Chapter 5
They sit together on the couch, turned toward each other. Bernie with her left leg bent up in front of her pressed against the length of Serena’s right thigh. Just this amount of closeness makes Serena’s body tingle.
Bernie takes a calming sip of her wine and gives Serena that sexy shy glance through her fringe again. ‘You really do need to stop looking at me like that Ms Wolfe or I won’t be able to control myself! I will strip you naked right here, right now and this conversation will not happen!’ says Serena very matter of fact. Bernie blushes and glances down towards her lap.
Feeling that she needs to encourage Bernie, Serena places a gentle hand on her knee ‘talk to me’ she coaxes, knowing that opening up and talking is not something which comes easy for her.
Bernie takes a big swig of her wine and places the glass on the coffee table beside her. She looks Serena in the eye and says nervously ‘firstly, I want to say how sorry I am for having left, you have no idea how hard a decision that was to make but, if truth be told, I ran because I was scared’.
‘I know I scared you when I confessed my feelings for you, I...’
‘No Serena, how you feel didn’t scare me, it made me......happy!’ interrupts Bernie.
‘I don’t understand’ she says, confusion written all over her face.
‘I’ve known for a while how I feel and that scared me. Knowing how you felt made me happy but scared at the same time because I suddenly realised how much I could hurt you, and let’s face it I don’t have a great track record! I hurt the people I care about and I couldn’t stand the thought of hurting you. But I realise now that my leaving did that anyway’.
Serena says nothing but her eyes never leave the beautiful blonde in front of her who, she knows without a shadow of a doubt that she loves with all of her heart. Seeing Bernie looking so vulnerable but being so honest pulls at Serena’s chest and she gently strokes Bernie’s knee with her thumb.
‘After our first kiss you told me you’d never been more than friends with a woman and I’d terrified the life out of you. I don’t ever want to be the one to make you scared or uncomfortable Serena, everything has to be at your speed, and when you’re ready’.
Something Bernie said suddenly registers with Serena ‘you said you’re feelings scared you. What do you mean?’
Bernie picks up her glass of shiraz and takes another large gulp to steady her nerves but doesn’t put the glass back, she just stares at it in her hand as she says ‘well I’ve never truly been in love’. Serena’s heart skips a beat at the word. ‘I loved Marcus of course but I was never really in love with him, he was more like my best friend, my confidant. And with Alex, I think we just needed each other in a very difficult time and place. We provided each other with comfort. But....’ Bernie seems to struggle finding the words to complete her sentence but Serena stays quiet, giving her the time she needs to say what she wants to say.
Bernie takes another drink of her wine, looks into the eyes of the woman in front of her and says ‘Serena, I know am completely in love with you’.
With trembling hands Serena takes the glass from Bernie and places it on the coffee table along with her own. She turns back to Bernie, who hasn’t taken her eyes off her, gently reaches her hand around the back of Bernie’s neck, into her blonde tresses and guides her mouth toward her own. She stops, their lips just millimetres apart and whispers ‘I love you too Ms Wolfe’ before kissing her softly.